Unconvential warfare
by SilverSzymonPL
Summary: Chris, an overlander resistance fighter, receives an assignment to inflitrate the freedom fighters. But his mission takes a turn to the unusual, and he finds himself trapped in a world he doesn't quite understand... (transformation)
1. A promising start

17 years ago, to the day, the great war had begun. A conflict that had claimed more than 400 000 lives on both sides, and ended the supremacy of the great Overland. And only a few short months after it ended, a new conflict begun, when Dr. Ivo Robotnik took advantage of the ensuing confusion and declared himself the emperor of Eggmanland, and begun enslaving the world's population. But the war wasn't over then. A few brave groups of Mobians organised a resistance, calling themselves the "Freedom Fighters", led by Sally Acorn and the famous Sonic the Hedgehog. However, our story will revolve around another group of resistance fighters. Ones far more radical, who have their headquarters about 685 miles from the Freedom Fighters. Chris is one of them.

As Chris woke up, he didn't really think of anything. He was still half-asleep, but as he looked at the blinding light pouring through the window, he made a startling realisation: He was late. He quickly put on his clothes and basic gear and rushed out. He arrived at the "town" square, where there was a large crowd. This place was more of a glorified village or base. Anyways, he arrived just in time, as a speaker was about to give a major announcement.

\- Greetings! As you may have heard, we have established contact with...

Chris was already not listening, as he was still searching for his parents in the crowd of maybe 200 people. He then finally saw his father's familiar face.

\- Dad!

His father then walked towards him.

\- You're finally awake.

\- Why didn't you wake me up?

\- We really tried, but you slept like a brick.

\- I'm sorry.

Meanwhile, the announcement was nearing its end.

\- For Overland!

Everyone, includiding Chris, then performed the mandatory salute, before the conversation resumed.

\- Thank god you woke up, your first assignment will be chosen in half an hour.

\- I know.

They then walked to the HQ, where a man in a military uniform was already waiting for them.

\- This is what your training has been leading up to.

Chris recently turned 15. Back when the world wasn't embroiled in a nearly 2 decade long world war, a teenager in the military would have been unacceptable, but times were rough.

The trio then walked to a briefing room, where the man explained Chris's first mission.

\- Your mission is to travel towards the Mobian Freedom Fighter HQ, spy on them, and bring back intel. More specifically, we need to know their numbers, strategies, and motivations. Understood?

\- Yes, sir.

Chris wasn't quite sure how he would travel there, or be able to infiltrate them even though he's an obvious human, but he knew he wouldn't just be dropped into the wild without any means of transport or supplies, and he decided to think of a way to spy on them when he gets there. The man then continued.

\- We have reports of them being rather liberal, so we expect them to allow you to join their ranks. You will be supplied with an armored jeep, weapons, and supplies to last you for 2 weeks. Meet me near the south gate.

\- Yes, sir.

As them man left, Chris voiced his main concern.

\- I'm supposed to join these ANIMALS?

\- I don't like the idea either, but as he said, they should let you join quite easily. You can get through it.

Chris was far from happy, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. He then headed for the south gate.


	2. An odd roadblock

A few hours later, he was already heading south. Robotnik's troops were quite scarce in this part of the continent, but Chris was still trying to be careful. He eventually came across a fallen tree.

\- Huh.

As he came closer, he heard rustling in the nearby bushes.

\- It's probably just a bird.

He then came back to his jeep and drove around the tree, not knowing that a figure was watching the whole time. The unknown figure then pulled out a walkie-talkie.

\- It's an Overlander. What should we do?

The next day, Chris was getting close to the great forest, although he had to be more careful, as the area was dense with robot patrols. However, he started running out of gas, so he stopped the jeep and went towards the trunk to refuel it. He then heard another rustle in the bushes, this one louder than the one yesterday.

\- Who's there?

He immediately realized that he probably made a mistake in not shooting the bush just in case. He walked towards the car to grab his gun, but he stepped on a hidden trap which caused a lasso to wrap around his leg and pull him upwards, leaving him hanging upside down. He tried to free himself, but he then saw figures coming from the darkness. He then realized something bad: They were Mobians. And they didn't look friendly. They appeared to be wolves, and one of them stuck out. While the others were wearing modest tribal-looking outfits, this one wolf looked a lot more formal, and appeared to be their leader. He signalled the others to draw their weapons, which strangely appeared to be outdated assault rifles.

\- What are you here for?

This threw Chris into a loop, as he didn't prepare a story. He decided to tell him a half-truth.

\- I'm here to fight Robotnik.

The wolves slowly started to lower their wapons, but their leader signalled them to keep them drawn for now.

\- What's your name?

\- Chris.

\- I'm Edward.

He signalled the wolves to free Chris, but even after they did, they kept aiming right at him.

\- You guys don't trust me, huh?

\- Why would we?

The wolves then tied Chris's hands behind his back.

\- Huh? I thought you were about to free me!

\- We're not freeing you. We're getting you ready for transport.


	3. Infinite power

The subsequent journey wasn't comfortable, made worse by Chris now having his mouth wrapped in duct tape after a failed attempt at negotiating. The vegetation was thick and Chris was constantly getting pinched by sharp branches of small dying trees. They eventually reached a small village hidden deep in the woods. As soon as they reached it, the Mobians there (mainly wolves) stopped their activities when they saw Chris, an Overlander. He was an unusual sight around these parts. Edward then turned to the other wolves.

\- Untie him.

They then untied him, and Chris got the duct tape off on his own. He then nearly started throwing slurs and insults, but then realized that doing so might be a bad idea in front of a large Mobian crowd.

\- What are you planning to do?

\- Ask you a few questions.

Chris was then taken to a standard interrogation room. It was just an empty room with a table, 2 chairs, and 4 armed guards. Chris was still fighting off the urge to tell everyone just how much he hates everyone. He was then asked about the Overlanders numbers, strategies, and motivations, refusing to answer each time. The interrogator eventually lost patience, so Chris was put in a makeshift jail for the time being. On the way, Chris saw an entrance to a heavily guarded room, and wondered what was inside. Eventually, he was put in a small cell and left alone. Or at least, seemingly alone. In the cell next to his, something or someone was making noise. Chris then turned towards said cell.

\- Is anyone there?

All that came back was more unidentifiable noise.

\- Hello!?

The sound stopped, and a voice responded.

\- Who are you?

\- I could ask the same thing. I'm Chris.

\- Descriptive. Look, i have no time for boning with another guy, I-

\- I'm an overlander.

\- ... Gross.

Chris crossed is arms, although the other prisoner could only imagine the reaction.

\- I can see you're a Mobian. How did you land in here?

\- I stole something. Now leave me alone.

\- Can you tell me what's in that guarded room?

The Mobian paused for a second.

\- A chaos emerald.

Chris's eyes widened. These stones possessed infinite power, and one has never been used by a human. He then thought about how they could be used by his group to defeat Eggman.

\- Is it possible to escape?

\- I've been trying to this whole time! I'm trying to dig a tunnel.

Chris smirked. Of course he is.

\- Can you get me out too?

\- No.

And the digging noise continued.


	4. An unlikely friendship?

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hourse, and neither one restarted the conversation until Chris was eventually tired of the silence.

\- If you get me out, i can help you get the chaos emerald.

The digging stopped.

\- And how exactly are you gonna help me?

\- I have years of training.

\- I have even more years than you. I can tell you're a child from your voice.

\- Do you know how to drive a car?

\- ... No.

\- I do. How do you think you will get away after stealing it?

\- How did you even know i want it?

\- Years of training.

\- ... Fine. I'll get the key after i get out, but this better be worth it.

\- Deal.

The next day, when Chris woke up, Victor was already gone from the other cell, and less than an hour later, he arried at Chris's door.

\- You're an even smaller child than i thought.

\- Still taller than you.

He was about to leave Chris to rot in his cell now, but he remembered yesterday's conversation, and begrudgingly reached for the key.

\- Next time you say something racist, i'll shoot you dead.

Now Chris knew not to push his luck.

\- What's your name by the way?

\- Chris. Yours?

\- Victor.

The two carefully headed to the compound's outer wall, and went to the window of the emerald's room. Chris then began voicing his thoughts.

\- One of us needs to look in and see if there are any guards.

\- The window is too high.

\- Then one of us has to be picked up.

\- I'm not carrying you.

Chris then picked up Victor and gave him a view of the room.

\- It's clear. Idiots. They have 10 guards outside the room but none inside.

Victor then got inside through the window, snatched the emerald from its pedestal, and returned to Chris.

\- Easiest heist of my life.

Then two then heard about 10 gunbarrels being cocked at the same time, and looked around. 10 Guards were surrounding them. One of them spoke.

\- Did you really think the room would be completely unguarded? There are cameras everywhere.

Chris then remembered hearing about an action that can be performed with a chaos emerald that has never been done by a human before. It was their last hope. He took the chaos emerald from Victor.

\- Chaos Control!


	5. The change (finally)

Chris woke up in the middle of the woods. Same kind of location as before, but the village was nowhere in sight. As he stood up, he noticed that Victor was gone and he no longer had the Chaos Emerald. He then looked at himself to see if he was in one piece, and he appeared to be fine. As he looked around more, he noticed his jeep. It looked like the wolves didn't even touch it. It looked like the chaos emerald transported him to where he wanted to be. After marvelling at his own genius, Chris got in the jeep and once again started driving towards his ultimate destination, not noticing the fact that his right hand appeared to be slightly glowing green.

As he drove, his right hand started itching. It started out harmless, but after a few minutes, it was a burning sensation that forced him to stop by the side of the road. The pain then spread to his shoulder, and as Chris looked at his hand, he saw that his nails were becoming longer and more pointy. Then, grey fur started to growing on the back of his hand, and spread to the rest of his arm. The same thing was happening to his other arm. Fur then started growing on his torso, and at this point the pain of the process forced him into a fetal position. Fur then started growing on his legs, and a bushy tail sprouted from his lower back. As his face started reforming, the pain in his skull became too much to manage, and he passed out.

He laid there for quite a while. He eventually became conscious again, but refused to move. It eventually started to rain. Hard. The jeep's roof was opened, so he and his now oversized clothes became completely soaked, but Chris no longer cared. Eventually though, he realized he's very likely to get hypothermia. He begrudgingly went out of the jeep to close the roof, however, as he was getting out, he tripped and landed in the mud. It woke him up a bit. He then got up, closed the roof, and got back in. He examined himself. He was a Mobian. It was something completely new to him. He was confused and didn't know what to do. He was also really cold, wet, and dirty from the mud. He took out a towel, wrapped himself in it, and started to think.


	6. An unexpected meeting

After about an hour, it stopped raining, and Chris was mostly clean, although his clothes looked like they were dumped in a sewer after being wet and splashed with mud. Chris figured that the emerald must have caused his situation, and the only way to hopefully change back was to find the emerald again. As Chris was about to start driving again, he realized that he could no longer reach the pedals or clearly see past the front window. Frowning, he went outside and grabbed duct tape from the trunk and some sticks from the forest and taped them to his feet to let him reach the pedals, and made a small stack of things on the front seat to let him be high enough to see the road clearly. He had to adapt. He looked at his tail. It still had dried mud on it. He felt oddly protective of it, so he cleaned it and got on his way.

Eventually, he saw a figure standing by the side of the road. As he rode closer, he saw who it was: Victor. Chris didn't know whether to slow down or speed up, but then he realized that he needed someone to guide him through the Mobian world. He parked right next to Victor, who then proceded to get in.

\- Hi.

\- Hi. You're Victor, right?

Victor then got defensive.

\- How do you know my name?

\- I, uhh... i've heard about you. You're a great thief.

Victor then smiled a little bit.

\- Yup, that's me alright. And what's your name?

\- I'm Chris- I MEAN-

\- Really? I've met a guy named Chris. He could also ride a car.

Chris started to sweat.

\- Uh, yeah, uh... it's not that rare for two people to be named Chris, right? Yeah. And i've got, uh, experience with a car.

\- Mhm... i'm a wolf. What species are you?

\- Fox- I MEAN, uh, WOLF. Wolf.

Victor then got a bit concerned.

\- You don't know your own species?

\- I, uh... i haven't had time to really get bonded with that identity, you know...

\- Huh. By the way, the Chris I met was some filthy overlander.

Chris tried his hardest to smile.

\- I, yeah, uh, screw these guys, am I right? They can go hang under a tree.

\- Mhm, I guess... By the way, a few hours ago, I've heard screaming from your direction. Do you know what that could have been?

Chris realized it was from his painful transformation. He tried to change the subject.

\- Uh, how did you get in the middle of the woods like that?

Victor sunk in his seat a little bit.

\- uhh... I don't really want to talk about it, it was kinda weird... I tried to steal a chaos emerald, but it teleported me and I no longer have it. By the way, your voice sounds kind of familliar.

\- It- It's probably just a feeling, probably...

\- Hmm...

And the two of them rode off.


	7. Casual rebels

Not long afterwards, Chris asked.

\- Where are you actually going?

\- Knothole village. I was supposed to steal the emerald for them, and i'm a bit disappointed to return empty-handed.

Knothole is the Freedom Fighters's base of operations. Chris smiled.

\- I'm going there too. I want to join them.

\- Huh. Then i'm going to recommend you.

\- Thanks.

\- Although, even if you don't get a field job, you can still live there. It's a safe haven.

\- Yeah, i'm... I'm missing one right now...

Chris remembered his overlander home. His life. His parents. The people. The schools. The textbooks describing Mobians as savages. Chris sighed.

They eventually arrived at Knothole. It was a very quaint and happy forest village, hiding its true purpose of being a rebel hideout. As Chris and Victor were getting out of the jeep, Victor noticed something.

\- What are these scratch marks?

Chris looked at his seat. It's true, it looked like a werewolf transformation happened there. Or at least, something similar...

\- Uhh... I met a girl. We didn't have a home to go to-

\- Ah, i get you.

Victor put his hand on Chris's shoulder.

\- Keep it up, bro.

Chris laughed desperately.

\- You gotta do what you gotta do...

Victor then took Chris to a big hut located in the middle of the village.

\- Who lives here?

\- You'll see.

They walked in, but as Chris closed the door behind him-

\- OWW!

Victor looked at Chris with a slightly quizzical look.

\- What happened?

They looked behind them. Chris's tail was stuck in the door. Victor winced.

\- Ouch.

Chris got it unstuck.

\- I'm not really used to this.

Victor gave him an even more quizzical look.

\- Huh? Not used to what? Doors?

\- Uhh... I guess you could say...

Then, they heard someone coming downstairs, and a few seconds, that someone revealed herself: She was a brown, female chipmunk only wearing a blue denim jacket, her... feminine features on full display. She came up to Victor and shook his hand.

\- So, Victor, do you have the emerald?

\- I used it to escape and it disappeared.

Chris looked at them confused.

\- Who's she?

Victor turned to face him.

\- She's Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the freedom fighters.

Chris looked at her with slightly widened eyes, then quickly composed himself.

\- Uh, hello, your... majesty. I'm Chris.

Sally laughed.

\- Just call me Sally.

\- Uh... Right. I'm here to be recruited.

\- Then you're in.

Chris widened his eyes again.

\- It's that simple?

\- There's no paperwork involved. We're just a band of guerrillas.

She smiled, while Chris stayed a little shocked.

\- Um... Okay then. Sorry, i'm a bit new here.

\- We can tell. You're gonna fit right in. By the way, upstairs, i heard someone scream like a little girl. Can i know who that was?

She smiled again, and Chris immediately pointed at Victor, who then chuckled.

\- He got his tail stuck in the door.

Sally laughed, which made Chris blush in embarrassment and slight anger.

\- No I didn't.

This refusal only made Sally laugh harder, and even Victor started to chuckle.

\- He really is new here.

\- He's cute.

Chris then jumped in.

\- So where will i live?

After calming down a bit, Sally responded.

\- You get to choose.

\- Huh, Then, i will live by Victor.

\- Aww. You two are friends?

Victor jumped in.

\- We just met. But if he wants to live close to me, i won't protest.

The duo ten walked outside to let Victor show Chris where he lives. The silence ended up being very brief.

\- Bleh! She called me cute!

\- I mean... You do look a bit-

\- Don't start!

\- Why are you so angry about it?

\- You won't understand.

\- Just... Calm down, alright? You're freaking out over nothing.

\- Maybe you're right... maybe...


	8. A new home

They eventually arrived at Victor's house. It was a medium-sized yellow hut with two stories, which was about standard for most houses in the village. After they got in, with Chris paying attention to the door this time, Victor showed him the inside. The bed and drawer were located upstairs, while the downstairs contained the kitchen and bathroom, but what interested Chris more was the fact that the upstairs also had a big cache of weapons. Assault rifles, machine guns, even a rocket launcher. Chris almost couldn't stop himself from drooling. Victor noticed.

\- You like them, huh?

\- I thought you guys were all pacifist...

\- You mean the freedom fighters? We wouldn't be able to fight robotnik if we were.

Chris didn't mean the freedom fighters. He meant all mobians. Sure, the wolves had guns, but they were a rogue faction. Chris heard that, just before the great war, the mobians were almost completely pacifist, and only had a small number of guns and planes as part of the police force. After the war started, they struggled to hold any ground. Then, an overlander scientist wanted for crimes against humanity joined them and helped them. Ivo Robotnik.

\- I meant... I mean, yeah, the freedom fighters.

\- By the way, what were you doing before you decided to be a freedom fighter?

\- I, uh... I was part of a different group...

\- Hmm... The thing about us being pacifists is an outdated stereotype, so i guess your group doesn't like the freedom fighters.

\- It's more... complicated than that.

\- Huh. Well, anyways, this is my house. Treat yourself.

Chris came up to one of the guns and started holding it. Victor noticed.

\- I've never seen a mobian who likes guns so much, though. It's usually an overlander thing.

Chris almost jumped, then quickly put the gun back in its place.

\- Well, i'm not an overlander.

He desparately tried to pass it off as a joke, but all that came out of his mouth afterwards was a desparate chuckle, although Victor didn't seem to mind his new friend acting a little weird.

\- Knothole gets a lot of sun, so soon you won't be looking so pale anymore.

\- Pale?

\- Yeah. You look like you've lived in a concrete block your whole life.

\- Well... But what about me looks pale? The fur?

\- Yes. And your eyes. Where did you live previously, a prison?

Chris was quite mad that Victor unknowingly compared his overlander home to a prison, but he couldn't voice his discontent about it specifically.

\- That's not very nice to say.

\- Either way, after a few months here, you will look like a proper wolf.

It then dawned on Chris that he has no idea how to really turn back, and that he may very well spend a long time as an mobian.

\- Uh, yeah, that's... great. I'm excited.

\- Now show me a scary face!

Chris tried to make a scary face that showed his wolf teeth, but the pityful smile he got from Victor suggested that it wasn't very effective.

\- It's almost like you don't know how to be a wolf.

\- Well...

\- First off, your teeth don't look threating at all. Have you never sharpened them?

\- You... do that?

\- Yes. Your teeth look like baby teeth.

Chris put his hand in his mouth. They didn't quite feel human anymore, which sent shivers down his spine, but they also didn't seem like the type of things that chew through raw meat like it's butter.

\- Then... teach me the ways, i guess? Oh, by the way, my jeep has weapons too! Want to see?

\- Sure.

Chris excitedly ran back to the jeep, and came back with an overlander plasma rifle.

\- This thing is almost as big as you! Where did you get it!?

Chris looked at it. It's true, his trusted rifle was uncannily large now.

\- Well, uh, i stole it from an overlander. Same with the jeep.

\- Nice. Also, i just noticed, why are your clothes so oversized too?

Chris looked at them. He tried to pull back his pant legs and the sleeves of his shirt after transforming, and to tighten the belt on his pants, but while that made the clothes functional again, they were still oversized and baggy, not to mention extremely dirty.

\- I, uh... I stole them too.

\- Oh.

This wasn't too odd, as mobians don't always wear clothes.

\- I pretty much stole everything from him.

\- And left him butt naked. I've heard that it makes overlanders embarrassed.

\- Yeah. I mean... i've heard about that too.

\- But why did YOU start to wear clothes?

Chris almost blushed.

\- Because... reasons.

\- Does it make you embarrassed too?

\- No! Of course not! It's an overlander thing!

\- Then prove it.

Victor saw this as innocent bickering, but for Chris, his very identity was being compromised. Would he rather take another step away from his original species, or would he rather look like an idiot in front of someone who can help him?

\- I keep them on because it's cold outside.

\- Hmm... I haven't felt it, but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now.

Victor smiled, whilst Chris was internally screaming from joy.

\- But you can't keep these on forever. You need better ones.

Chris was painfully aware of that fact.

\- Do you have a ch- I mean, do you have spare clothes?

Chris was about to ask him for a changing room. Why would a species not afraid of being naked have any need for changing rooms?

\- Yes, and you might like them.

\- Okay. But i need to change elsewhere.

\- Are you embarrassed?

Chris needed a better explanation than weather.

\- Okay, you want to know the realy reason why i keep clothes on?

He fake sighed.

\- I'm self-conscious about my pale fur.

Chris was about to laugh at himself for saying something so seemingly stupid, barely stopping himself, but the worried look he got from Victor indicated that he had struck the right chord. Victor then came up to Chris and put a hand on his shoulder.

\- Look, i know what i've said about it, but there's no need to be ashamed. Nobody's gonna think less of you because of it.

\- Well, i still need a different room.

Victor then gave chris new clothes and waited outside the bathroom. Chris then took off his jacket and shirt. Feeling fur underneath felt weird, but he knew he could maybe get used to it eventually. He went in front of the mirror out of curiosity. He hadn't actually seen himself upclose and personal. As it turned out, he looked... somewhat attractive if you asked a furry, especially without a shirt on. But Chris didn't like this fact. He didn't look like himself. Although, there was a resemblance.

\- How long will you be there?

\- Uh... As long as i need to be!

\- I need to pee!

He quickly put on the new shirt. It had a military style, which Chris liked. He then out on the new pants, which were a little baggy, but this time on purpose. After coming out of the bathroom, Victor immediately walked in, and for a few minutes, Chris was essentially alone to do what he wanted. He once again came to the weapons cache. After examining the weapons there, he came to the conclusion that they were a little outdated. After all, he was still on a spying mission, and his predicament wasn't going to change that. In fact, it was probably in his favor, although Chris didn't like to admit it. After Victor came back, he once again saw Chris looking at his weapons.

\- You're REALLY into guns, aren't you?

\- I'm just interested. I didn't get a good enough look at them before.

\- Suuuuure.

Chris was feeling embarrassed now, so he walked away from the cache.

\- So, what do we do now?

\- It would be good to eat something. I haven't eaten anything for 2 days.

\- Actually, me too.


	9. New experiences

Chris already started going towards the door to get food from his jeep, but Victor stopped him.

\- I've got food here.

\- What kind?

\- The kind you'll like.

Chris was terrified. Knowing mobians, it's bound to be something weird. Victor then took him to a table upstairs, not telling him what he has, and then went into the kitchen. Chris's imagination was going wild. And it wasn't going to places he liked. Eventually, Victor came back with a full plate. A plate full of meat. Chris liked meat, except in Overland they served it cooked...

\- It's not cooked.

\- Yeah. It's great, huh?

Well, Chris was extremely hungry by now, and you can't get anywhere without making sacrifices. Chris took a small bite, and it was... Amazing. Within a few minutes the entire plate was emptied, and Chris was now very shocked at himself. He guessed that his new senses made it taste better.

\- I... guess it is.

Victor's plate was empty too.

\- So, i guess it was a long journey here?

\- Long and weird. By the way, what is this meat from?

\- Overlanders.

Chris jumped backwards from the chair.

\- WHAT!?

\- Nah, i'm just screwing with you. It's from a cow.

Chris slowly got back on his chair. The joke wasn't very funny to him.

\- Funny... By the way... maybe we can still get that emerald you were sent to get?

\- Hmm... But we don't have any way to find it.

\- Maybe knothole has someone who can?

\- Hmm... I might know a guy... Want to go to him now?

\- If you want to.

Victor then took Chris to another hut. This one had a name written beside the door. "Knuckles".

\- He has a connection to the master emerald. It's a giant green emerald connected to all the others. He doesn't stay here very often, but he might be around now.

After they came in, Chris immediately noted the number of strange items present. A red halloween pumpkin, a piece of obsidian, a yellow glass container that appears to be floating in the air... Where is all this from? Eventually, "knuckles" came downstairs. He was a red echidna with dreadlocks and weird shoes. He and the hut gave off a hippie vibe to Chris. Knuckles seemed to know Victor, but he looked at Chris with suspicion.

\- Who are you?

\- I'm Chris. Chris the wolf.

It felt weird saying it. Knuckles then turned to Victor.

\- Is he your friend?

\- I guess you could say. He and I are looking for a Chaos Emerald. Can you help us track it down?

\- I'm not a living sensor, but i can try.

He still looked at Chris with suspicion. Chris wasn't sure why.

\- You seem suspicious of me.

\- You give off a very... odd aura. I haven't seen it before. It's... conflicting.

Chris was now sure that Knuckles is a hippie wizard of some kind. He tried to change the subject.

\- So you can see people's auras?

\- I have a connection to Chaos. Chaos is a force that enables life to exist. And so, living things give off auras.

\- Well, anyways, Victor screwed up on a mission and wants to redeem himself.

Victor looked at Chris like he just insulted his mother.

\- Watch yourself!

Knuckles then stood back and started to meditate. While he did that, Chris was thinking about whether to still continue his spying mission. He decided to continue it. Maybe giving his people some information will make them more accepting of mobians. His entire situation was a little stressful though, as he had no way of venting out his feelings. He needed to relax somehow. Meanwhile, Knuckles finished meditating.

\- I don't know exactly where it is, but i do know where you can get the information. There's an eggman base west of here that has the right equipment to track it.

Victor wasn't happy with that.

\- I have no idea how to use electronics!

Chris then jumped in.

\- I do. I've had... training.

\- Really?

Knuckles joined in.

\- So, i guess we're done here. Good luck.

The duo then left knuckles's home, and Victor voiced his feelings.

\- I wonder what he meant by your aura being weird.

\- Probably just had too many forest mushrooms. By the way... do you have any music? I need something for the trip.

\- I have a few choices.

They walked back to Victor's house, and checked out his music collection. They were in an outdated CD format, and Chris started noticing a pattern with Mobian technology. Most Mobian songs Victor had were pop songs, with some occasional metal and rap metal mixed in. There weren't many love songs, most of the songs were either about friendship, about freedom, or sometimes about politics, which Chris found to be interesting. Most of the political songs were rap metal. Chris didn't actually listen to them yet, only reading the lyrics on the back of their booklets, not wanting to spoil them before the trip. Chris chose a few of the more seemingly interesting songs, and they begun to pack. Chris, however, had a few questions.

\- Where is that base specifically?

\- I checked on the map, it's in the great desert.

\- Huh!? By "a bit to the west", he meant 200 kilometers away!

\- I packed lots of water.

\- Also, how exactly will we get in without instantly being killed?

\- We'll figure something out. I packed my equipment, and you still have yours.

And with that, the duo slightly reluctantly headed towards the jeep, somewhat ready for the journey ahead of them.


	10. Sandblast city

(By the way, the thing about most rap metal songs being political is a reference to Rage against the machine)

As Chris was driving west, he started to think about a certain Mobian peculiarity.

\- I wonder why everyone is so young. Where are all the older people?

\- They... Served in the great war.

\- But almost all of them?

\- It was a war of survival.

Chris never thought about it from the Mobian perspective. Many village destructions happened during the war. Many soldiers had to leave their children behind... Chris put in a random song to make the thoughts go away. It was a pop song. Victor seemed to really like it.

\- It's one of my favorites.

\- Hmm... It's nice.

\- What kind of music do you listen to?

\- Uh... I don't really have many songs, but the ones i have are mostly metal.

\- Hmm...

As they drove, the air started to get warmer and warmer, and plants were becoming more and more scarce. They were entering the great desert. And as they did, Chris was becoming more and more concerned that they didn't have a plan.

\- I've never actually fought eggman directly. I don't know if the two of us can do it alone.

\- For fighting eggman, you usually need to be fast and acrobatic. You think you can do that?

\- I'm... actually not sure.

As an overlander, Chris couldn't exactly do flips in the air and wallrun without having many years of ninja training. Maybe it's easier for Mobians.

\- Really? It's not that hard.

\- I've never done anything really acrobatic. But maybe you're right.

\- I think i might need to train you somewhere, just in case.

\- ... Maybe.

\- There's a city nearby. We can find a place.

Chris then stopped and opened the map. They city was called "Sandblast city". Creative. Eventually, they arrived there, and the city didn't really live up to its name. It was protected by an energy dome that kept it in a micro ecosystem that allowed for plants. According to Victor, the area wasn't always a desert, and the dome was built after the plants started to die. Maybe the city was named ironically on purpose. After they entered, they started searching for a hotel, as it was getting dark by now. Chris noticed that the city seemed untouched by the wars outside. Life went on as normal. Walking around so many other mobians made Chris feel odd. He felt like he didn't belong, despite visually fitting right in. Eventually, though, they found a hotel and rented a room. As actual money became a little scarce and hard to get, they paid with gasoline. They still had enough to go where they wanted to be and back. Chris and Victor started to feel hungry again, but Chris was always prepared.

\- I have my food in the jeep.

\- Hmm... I'm scared to try it.

\- I'm sure you'll like it.

Chris was happy that now the roles were switched. He went to the jeep and grabbed the least wolf-y food there was: A salad. As Victor saw it, he cringed.

\- Really? You eat that? What, were you raised by a hedgehog family or something?

\- Well, no, but it wasn't a wolf family.

\- I can tell. There's a lot about you that shows it.

Thankfully, Victor had no way of figuring out the truth, as he had no idea that transformations are even possible.

\- Just try it.

Victor tried it, and he appeared to begrudgingly like it.

\- It's not bad, i'll give you that.

\- I'm always right. I kinda want to watch a movie before we go to sleep. Are there any?

\- I know some. There's one about the great war, want to watch it?

\- Uh... Sure.

He had already seen movies about it, but never from the mobian perspective. It was bound to be interesting. Chris noticed that the movie was on VHS, another example of mobians using outadated technology. They started to play it. It was about the siege of mobotropolis, and it was... idealized. As in, mobians were potrayed as unquestionable heroes and overlanders as complete monsters. Whilst Chris was wincing, Victor was clearly enjoying it. Chris almost couldn't stand how the movie was potraying overlanders, so he started to indirectly talk about it.

\- Do you like this movie?

\- Yeah. It's really good.

\- And would you say that it's accurate?

\- It's pretty accurate from what i know.

\- Great...

\- And what do you think about it?

\- I don't know... Maybe its potrayal of overlanders is a bit... inaccurate?

\- Nah, i don't think so. And besides that?

\- I mean... I guess the action is pretty cool.

The action was well directed, but since he was looking at a Mobian squad killing dozens of his people, he couldn't quite enjoy it much. The movie was about a Mobian commander leading a squad of other Mobians in trying to stop the shelling of the city by the Overlanders. Evil Overlanders of course. Chris then noticed something.

\- They're using guns.

\- Yeah.

\- i thought that we didn't use guns much.

\- That's just propaganda. They were only banned from public sale, not from army use.

\- Huh.

Chris never really thought about that. Potraying them as gunless was good for both sides. The Mobians looked more heroic to themselves, whilst looking more savage to the Overlanders. After the movie ended, as the two of them were about to go to sleep, they noticed that there was only one bed. Victor was especially unhappy.

\- I'm not sleeping with you.

\- What's wrong with being a little bit gay?

\- I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH YOU.

Victor then laid on the bed in such a way that he occupied all the space it had. As Chris's joke had cost him the bed, he looked around the room for another place to sleep. He found a couch, and went to sleep there, having found another pillow and cover under Victor's bed.


End file.
